Best PlacesSevern, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Severn, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Severn ranks 615th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on what local pay buys.
The best neighborhoods in Severn
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Severn's strengths and weaknesses
Where Severn ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 85% of cities
- Household income$134,079 median, better than 84% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 83% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 79% of cities
Where Severn ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 4% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 6% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Severn
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Severn home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $134,079, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Severn's effective rate of 0.75%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Severn
Severn's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Severn.
Who works in Severn, and how
Work in Severn centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Severn
Severn has more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 15 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Severn and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Severn, month by month
Severn sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 36° | 26° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Severn
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 4 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.3 million passengers in 2025, with 114 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Severn
Schools across Severn average a C, better than 26% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Monarch Global Academy Pcs Laurel CampusC− · 29% proficient
- Ridgeway ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
- Severn ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Old Mill Middle SouthC · 35% proficient
- Macarthur MiddleC− · 28% proficient
- Old Mill Middle NorthD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Old Mill HighB · 50% proficient
- Meade HighB− · 41% proficient
- Glen Burnie HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Severn school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Severn measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Severn against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Severn suits
Families
Schools land around the 26th percentile and crime safety beats 83%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of cities and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Severn
Is Severn a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Severn ranks 615th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on what local pay buys, few empty homes, and high incomes, and lowest on taxes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Severn expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $465,180. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $134,079 median income, cost of living beats 90% of cities.
Is Severn safe?
Yes, Severn is safer than 83% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $212 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Severn?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 26. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of cities.
Is Severn good for families?
Schools beat 26% of cities, crime safety beats 83%, and childcare runs $1,268 a month.
Compare Severn with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Severn. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Severn represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Severn detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Severn: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Severn: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Severn: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Severn: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Severn detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.